Nefarious Online Activity Expected to Grow as Hackers Blur Line Between Spyware and Viruses; Phishing Attempts to Get Smarter

CA, Inc. (NYSE: CA) have issued a report that warns of a new level of cyber-crime potential as increasingly sophisticated attackers aim to steal intellectual property, personal identities and the contents of bank accounts across international borders, and within organizations and social networks. The CA 2007 Internet Threat Outlook, which outlines the top cyber security threats for 2007, is based on data compiled by the CA Security Advisor Team.

Malware writers continue to blur the line between trojans, worms, viruses and spyware, said Brian Grayek, vice president of Malicious Content Research for CA. Spyware distributors have adopted the stealth techniques of virus and worm authors, and can now adapt quickly to uncover and exploit the slightest vulnerability. PC users must therefore be aware that they can get in a lot of trouble simply by visiting a website and that the bad guys no longer need to entice them to open an email attachment to wreak havoc on their machines.

Predictions from the CA 2007 Internet Threat Outlook include:

Blended threats will continue to evolve: In addition to using spam to distribute trojans and other malware, attackers will increasingly use multi-phased exploits to take control of unsuspectingusers computers, steal private information, and perpetrate other attacks.

In 2006, trojans accounted for 62 percent of all malware; worms accounted for 24 percent; and viruses and other types of malware accounted for the remaining 13 percent. With the advent of the WMF exploit for drive-by downloads, 2006 also marked the first year that a spyware variant used a zero-day exploit to take advantage of a vulnerability that was previously unknown to the general public.

Phishers will get smarter: Users should expect social engineering tactics to be come more convincing and more effectively targeted at the knowledgeable user. Fake phishing emails with subjects such as to verify your account will be replaced by more clever attempts, such as worms disguised as mail failure notices.

Spam will increase: The last quarter of 2006 saw a huge increase in spam, largely because of image-based spam which can evade most anti-spam filters. Due to the low cost of sending mass spam especially through botnets cyber criminals will increasingly use this medium to distribute trojans.

Targeted attacks will increase: Criminals or disgruntled employees can use malware for corporate espionage or to steal intellectual property. For example, an employees home or office computer can be infected by visiting a pornography or gambling site where criminals have planted a keylogger or spyware to transmit salable information. Criminals also can use ransomware to kidnap a users data until the user is willing to pay for its release.

The rise of kernel rootkits: A rootkit is a cloaking technology that allows an intruder to hide malicious activity on a previously compromised machine. Using a rootkit, an attacker can hide malware such as backdoors, sniffers and keyloggers. The CA Security Advisor Team expects to see a rise in kernel rootkits, which are especially dangerous because they can be difficult to detect without appropriate software. Kernel rootkits add code or replace a portion of kernel code with modified code to hide a backdoor.

Increased exploitation of browser and application vulnerabilities beware: As cyber criminals find it harder to break through security defenses with traditional attacks, they will increasingly exploit vulnerabilities in Web browsers and applications. The release of new software versions will provide fertile ground for discovering new vulnerabilities.

Typo-squatting on search engines: Hackers will increasingly seek to poison search engine rankings and to perpetrate click-fraud on ad networks. Typo-squatting linking easily mistyped domains to malicious sites will become more prevalent.

CA views the increase in rogue anti-spyware programs as another alarming trend for 2007. Criminals are preying on consumers and small businesses via these free anti-spyware programs that actually contain the malware they purport to address. Instead of cleaning users computers, these attackers try to get money from users through deception.

While these predictions may seem grim, CA and other security companies are moving quickly to provide the tools and information that individuals and companies need to help protect themselves from harm.

The CA Security Advisor Team has been providing trusted security advice to the world for more than 16 years. It is staffed by industry-leading researchers and skilled support professionals who work around the clock to protect CA customers and the PC user community as a whole. CA Security Advisor offers free security alerts, RSS feeds, PC scans and a regular blog updated by CA researchers. The teams research is also used to keep CAs entire portfolio of threat-related products for home, SMBs and enterprise customers continuously updated.

About CA

CA (NYSE: CA), one of the world's largest information technology (IT) management software companies, unifies and simplifies the management of enterprise-wide IT. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., and serves customers in more than 140 countries.

Other Resources

About Us

Established in 1997, Manufacturing & Logistics IT Magazine (LogisticsIT.com) is the leading specialist IT solutions magazine and web-site covering all aspects of end-to-end supply chains within a wide range of vertical markets. The editorial content covers real live applications within collaborative supply chain environments and has contribution from leading vendors and research analysts. This provides our readers with an insight into how technological developments enable all kinds of businesses to operate effectively and efficiently.